Continued studies in cognitive function in problem solving of graded difficulty (1) has now proceeded through several thousand tests of high school students in a six weeks period last summer. The optical imager uses 9 sources and 23 detectors operated in time multiplex to give an image of the prefrontal region in several seconds. Thus, the image can be acquired in the state prior to activation, during and following activation. The images are acquired at two wavelengths, 750 and 850 nm, from which the changes of blood concentration (blood pooling) and relative oxygenation/deoxygenation state (metabolic activity) can be obtained and with suitable calibrations converted into micromolar changes of total Hb concentration and fractional changes of oxygenation, respectively. The imager has a flexible, wearable pad applied to the forehead and the electronics presents the running average of the two quantities mentioned above in the 16 voxels which cover the prefrontal region. The protocol involves a scanning through multi-letter anagrams of graded difficulty which include problems ellicitating maximal activation (>3 solutions in the 30 sec test interval) or are to easy, or too difficulty. Anagrams are presented in a sequence of three, four, five letter anagrams of to the maximal level of difficulty and back to the starting point. Each anagram is displayed for approximately one minute. Computer scanning of the results gives histograms of the several hundred tests per individual in the "training" interval (for three weeks) and in the post training interval (3 weeks). Usually two or three complete trials per day were achieved with the result that the group of 7 students produced over 2600 test results. The histogram displays were studied to determine a) the most fruitful voxels, b) the approximate of the total tests that appeared in those voxels and c) the maximum signal level observed in the histogram display in units of micromolar hemoglobin. The product these two was taken as the Figure of Merit and their displays of the 16 voxels gave patterns for trained and untrained responses. The preliminary conclusions of this study were: a) that the training effect was very large, pre-training exhibited a chaotic voxel distribution for all difficulty levels while trained students gave a higher output and activated only one or two of the 16 voxels. If the tests was too easy, too hard, i.e., an ability/difficulty mismatch, frustration or disattention gave similar chaotic patterns; b) a match between difficulty and ability activated only one or two voxels in similar locations for the group. Since attention and success measure appear to be of interest in school room studies, a wearable imager with local LCD display is being supplied to the Senior class of the local high school for those individuals who have already had last Summer's training in anagrams. It is concluded that wearable NIR measurements of metabolic activation and blood flow may be a useful educational aid.

Page KC, Malik RE, Ripple JA, Anday EK. Maternal and postweaning diet interaction alters hypothalamic gene expression and modulates response to a high-fat diet in male offspring. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 297: R1049 -R1057, 2009. First published August 5, 2009 doi:10.1152/ajpregu.90585.2008.-Epidemiological data and results from animal studies indicate that imbalances in maternal nutrition impact the expression of metabolic disorders in the offspring. We tested the hypothesis that consumption of excess saturated fats during pregnancy and lactation contributes to adult metabolic dysfunction and that these disturbances can be further influenced by the postweaning diet. Adult male offspring from chowfed dams were compared with males from dams fed a diet high in saturated fat (45 kcal/100 kcal) before mating, pregnancy, and lactation. Offspring were weaned to a standard chow diet or high fat diet. Animals were killed at 120 days after a 24-h fast. Body weight, energy intake, fat deposition, serum leptin, and insulin were significantly higher in offspring from control or high-fat dams if fed a high-fat diet from weaning to adulthood. Only fat-fed offspring from fat-fed dams were hyperglycemic. Leptin receptor, proopiomelanocortin, and neuropeptide Y (NPY) were also significantly increased in offspring exposed to excess saturated fat during gestation and into adulthood, whereas NPY 1 receptor was downregulated. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 mRNA level was significantly higher in offspring from high-fat-fed dams compared with controls; however, no change was detected in cocaine and amphetamine-regulated transcript or suppressor of cytokine signaling 3. An increase in agoutirelated protein expression did not reach significance. A significant reduction in phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase regulatory subunit (p85␣) coupled to an upregulation of protein kinase B was observed in offspring from high-fat-fed dams transitioned to chow food, whereas p85␣ expression was significantly increased in high-fat offspring weaned to the high-fat diet. These data support the hypothesis that early life exposure to excess fat is associated with changes in hypothalamic regulation of body weight and energy homeostasis and that postweaning diet influences development of metabolic dysfunction and obesity. development; hypothalamus; obesity OBESITY HAS BECOME one of the most prevalent and costly health issues to plague the developed world. The nutritional environment during early development has been shown to alter the expression of genes critical to regulation of energy intake and expenditure (20), and poor nutrition during intrauterine and early postnatal life is particularly disruptive. Recent evidence supports this hypothesis and underscores the importance of this critical time in the development of neuroendocrine feedback loops regulating energy homeostasis in the hypothalamus (2, 16). For example, offspring of undernourished mice have reduced birth weights. When these offspring are cross-fostered onto norma...

We tested the hypothesis that excess saturated fat consumption during pregnancy, lactation, and/or postweaning alters the expression of genes mediating hippocampal synaptic efficacy and impairs spatial learning and memory in adulthood. Dams were fed control chow or a diet high in saturated fat before mating, during pregnancy, and into lactation. Offspring were weaned to either standard chow or a diet high in saturated fat. The Morris Water Maze was used to evaluate spatial learning and memory. Open field testing was used to evaluate motor activity. Hippocampal gene expression in adult males was measured using RT-PCR and ELISA. Offspring from high fat-fed dams took longer, swam farther, and faster to try and find the hidden platform during the 5-day learning period. Control offspring consuming standard chow spent the most time in memory quadrant during the probe test. Offspring from high fat-fed dams consuming excess saturated fat spent the least. The levels of mRNA and protein for brain-derived neurotrophic factor and activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein were significantly decreased by maternal diet effects. Nerve growth factor mRNA and protein levels were significantly reduced in response to both maternal and postweaning high-fat diets. Expression levels for the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDA) receptor subunit NR2B as well as synaptophysin were significantly decreased in response to both maternal and postweaning diets. Synaptotagmin was significantly increased in offspring from high fat-fed dams. These data support the hypothesis that exposure to excess saturated fat during hippocampal development is associated with complex patterns of gene expression and deficits in learning and memory.

Recent advancements in conductive yarns and fabrication technologies offer exciting opportunities to design and knit seamless garments equipped with sensors for biomedical applications. In this paper, we discuss the design and application of a wearable strain sensor, which can be used for biomedical monitoring such as contraction, respiration, or limb movements. The system takes advantage of the intensity variations of the backscattered power (RSSI) from an inductively-coupled RFID tag under physical stretching. First, we describe the antenna design along with the modeling of the sheet impedance, which characterizes the conductive textile. Experimental results with custom fabricated prototypes showed good agreement with the numerical simulation of input impedance and radiation pattern. Finally, the wearable sensor has been applied for infant breathing monitoring using a medical programmable mannequin. A machine learning technique has been developed and applied to post-process the RSSI data, and the results show that breathing and non-breathing patterns can be successfully classified.

No abstract

UPEs in neonates can be reduced with process standardization and frontline staff education, emphasizing vigilant endotracheal tube (ETT) maintenance.

No abstract

No abstract